Typically cooking and processing for producing fresh refried bean products are long and laborious. Therefore, instant/dried refried bean products, which may be processed and cooked quickly, are particularly appealing for the restaurant industry creating high demand for instant/dried refried beans. Instant/dried refried bean products are cooked, dehydrated refried beans that have longer shelf lives than hydrated refried beans and form instantly upon the addition of water with little or no cooking time required prior to consumption.
This demand led to the advancement of extrusion technology, which shortened the long processing time of creating instant/dried refried beans. Extrusion has become a popular method of cooking and extruding for several foods. Extruders were created and perfected to dry refried beans for the creation of instant/dried refried beans. These extruders are capable of extruding and may also be capable of dehydrating, and/or cooking beans to form bean dough for utilization in the creation of instant/dried refried bean products. Bean dough is extruded, dehydrated beans that have a water content of about 10% to about 30% by weight. The inclusion of all of these processes (hydrating, cooking, and extruding) in one machine reduces labor and quickens processing times to make the production of instant/dried refried beans more efficient.
Several other refried bean products exist besides instant/dried refried beans. These other bean products are at least partially hydrated and may be fully hydrated and include products such as canned refried beans, frozen refried beans, aseptic refried beans, and refried beans processed and cooked for immediate consumption. Canned and/or frozen refried bean products are also utilized as a time-saving alternative to the cooking of refried beans from scratch. Moreover, these products have increased shelf-lives as well. The convenient canned and frozen refried beans are utilized by individual consumers and the restaurant industry making these forms of refried beans also in demand. Moreover, consumers and some restaurants may desire large quantities of refried beans that are ready for consumption directly after processing without storage time and preservatives for a more natural taste.
The processing and cooking of partially hydrated bean products, such as partially hydrated refried bean products, is also long and laborious. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method and/or system for decreasing the processing time and labor needed to produce a partially hydrated bean product, such as partially hydrated refried beans. It would also be desirable to provide a method for producing a partially hydrated refried bean product that is faster and easier than current manual processing methods.